Truffle Hound Capital LLC Takes $4.54 Million Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Truffle Hound Capital LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 75,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,538,000. Delta Air Lines comprises approximately 1.6% of Truffle Hound Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DAL. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 12.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 169,056 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,587,000 after buying an additional 19,350 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.7% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 478,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $24,323,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the third quarter valued at about $453,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.4% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 56,926 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,891,000 after buying an additional 4,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 15.0% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 11,956 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total transaction of $554,568.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,304,291.12. This trade represents a 29.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on DAL shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $76.29.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 0.1 %

DAL stock opened at $46.89 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.31 billion, a PE ratio of 8.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.29 and a 12 month high of $69.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

Delta Air Lines Profile

Delta Air Lines, Inc provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Airline and Refinery. Its domestic network centered on core hubs in Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, and Salt Lake City, as well as coastal hub positions in Boston, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, and Seattle; and international network centered on hubs and market presence in Amsterdam, Bogota, Lima, Mexico City, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Sao Paulo, Seoul-Incheon, and Tokyo.